Term Limits, Term Limits & Term Limits!

This is a guest author post by: Andrew Flynn

The United States consists of every race, nationality, culture and religion on the face of this earth. As Americans we publicly disagree, argue and debate with each other on a lot of issues and that’s what we expect in a democracy. It’s part of what makes this country so great.

Despite all of our differences on a very wide range of domestic and foreign issues the one thing that we can all agree on is that we have a broken system.

The congress no longer works as it was intended. Our congressmen and our two political parties are in a battle over power for the most control. I don’t see that battle ever ending no matter which side happens to be winning in any given year. The health and, I think, the very survival of this country is not the priority. Selfish power and greed is our elected official’s priority.

This country is circling the drain and we get nothing but locked horns and more greed. When our very financial survival is in question, something that should be a simple bill to discuss ends up hundreds of pages long. Members of congress add what amounts to millions of your hard-earned tax dollars to fund pet projects.

It’s a sickening spectacle to watch as millions of tax paying citizens suffer from years and years of greed and incompetence.

Did you know that the new congressman that you elected to change the mess we have in Washington is essentially little more than a trainee? The junior congressman has very little power, and is not equal to the established members of congress. The junior congressman has to vote as he’s told to vote or the money dries up for his reelection campaign and he’s out of a job come next election. Your new congressman is not even allowed to speak until all the senior members have spoken first. Heaven forbid he should represent the people and disagree with a senior member, or his own party for that matter.

Is that the kind of congressional change you voted for last election? Congressional term limits would cut that power structure and allow the people you elect to represent you. It would remove the corrupting force that is a self-serving, 30 year veteran congressman who has manipulated and blackmailed his way to the top. It would end any chance of that congressman staying there until wheeled out.

The majority of our problems today – as they relate to government – stem from greed, graft and corruption from deep pocket special interests and the lobbyists that buy and own our congressional lawmakers.

Congress passes legislation on behalf of its biggest donors that in turn limits competition. That corrupts our free enterprise system that the rest of our business people have to live by. We saw the results of that corruption and greed in 2008. Our congress also reversed laws, on the behalf of lobbyists, which regulated the stock market and the financial institutions. These laws were enacted after the crash of 1929 and the great depression years of bread lines and suffering that followed. These laws, that congress reversed, were enacted to make sure it never happened again. In 2008 we once again saw the results of that corruption and greed bringing this country to its knees.

If each congressman represented his constituents the safety and security of this nation would never be sold to the highest bidder.

A congressman’s duty and responsibility is to represent and give a voice to the voters that put him in office, and to protect the safety and well-being of this country. Instead, today’s congressman is loyal to whoever can pay the most so that they can stay in office for a 6th or 7th term and do even more damage to this country. Congressional term limits would stop this cycle of greed and mismanagement our country has somehow survived with for so long. Imagine where we would be now if we had lawmakers who actually put the country’s interests first instead of lining their pockets with your tax dollars.

We the people need to change this broken system if we are going to survive.

Power corrupts. A congressional office with no term limits attracts the worst type of personality for the job. You can see the ego and arrogance of that personality when they get caught with their pants down doing something stupid. Their stupidity and clouded judgment come from having too much power and influence. They actually believe that they are invincible and can do anything they want with no fear of consequences. History shows us royalty and dictators acting that very same way.

I shutter to think of the financial losses, caused by poor judgment based on greed and vanity, that our lawmakers have burdened the tax paying citizens of this country with over the years. The debt this country faces today is nothing compared to the number of dollars our congressman have squandered, flushed, and lined their pockets with over the years.

We need people who will put the nation’s best interests in mind first before their own self interests. That is exactly what would happen if there were term limits for every elected office in this country. The hundreds of lawyers we now have in congress that have brought us to this nightmare situation would move on to something more lucrative. It would open up an opportunity for people to run for office who actually want to improve things as well as listen to the citizens who voted for them. There are millions of qualified people who would love to serve this country if given the chance. We all know people who can do a better job than the lawyers we have in there now.

We the people can change this mess with congressional term limits.

If our founding fathers had added term limits to all elected offices at the time the constitution was written this country, and probably the world, would not be in the crisis it is in today. Congress would be responsible to the voter, not to the lobbyist or 30 year veteran of the system. That system is obese, and feeds on this country and its people until it snowballs into the mass of tangled webs we have today.

A reflection to our congress and our federal government that everyone knows well is our tax system. Here is something that should be a simple process to carry out, but instead our elected officials have turned it into a massive behemoth that costs the tax payers billions to run and you need a degree in accounting to understand it.

Rules and regulations are added to the tax code every year but very few, if any, are ever removed. The congress treats the federal government the same way by adding committees for 20 year studies, and adding an assistant to the assistant’s assistant. But when it comes to cutting the budget they look to our elderly that are living on social security – turning off the heat and cutting back to one meal a day.

There was a push a decade ago for congressional term limits and at that time the argument against it by professional politicians was that the “common man” could not do the job and the country would suffer from it. Well look where we are. What would the professional politician’s argument be now?

Anyone that can hold a job, feed, cloth, and keep a roof over their family’s head in these hard economic times is more than qualified to do a congressman’s job. It’s not a complicated job. It’s made complicated by the career politicians. A congressman’s job is a matter of personal integrity, knowing right from wrong, and being educated on the facts of the issue – Is it good for the country and it’s people? – Is it bad for the country and it’s people?

Frankly I think a well-organized, well-informed group of 5th graders would do a better job than the hundreds of lawyers we have in there now. The 5th graders decisions would certainly be based on doing the right thing for this country and the people instead of the few with wealth and power.

No matter what your political or spiritual views are or what race or cultural background you come from, we are all Americans. We all share the same ball and chain around our neck that is sinking this beautiful country and all its people right along with it. Let’s all get on the same page on this one issue and try to save this country.

The people of this country have the power to change this mess and it starts with you.

Is your group or association leader talking about term limits? Let’s put this issue front and center and make it a top priority.

This is the information age. Speak out, email, instant message, use social media. Or use the traditional, but still effective, method of writing or calling your congressman. It may seem counterintuitive but ultimately it is congress that needs to pass legislation to enact term limits. So make sure they hear you loud and clear!